UNWRAPPING BOOKS PICKS WHAT I READ! 🎁wrapped up revamped - episode 10! september reading vlog

Oh my god, you are so cute. Look how cute you are. Hey friends, how are your diddly doing? I am excited but I'm also sad. So it's time for another episode of Wrapped Up. If you're a regular here, you know the drill. If you're new, some of my books are wrapped up. These are my releases that I owned. 2021 releases that I owned in December, at the start of December last year. Wrap them up, we unwrap one or two and I read them in the vlog, essentially. Now I'm excited because I love Wrapped Up. I love and hate it. I love it but I hate the suspense. I always feel so sick. But I'm sad because this is going to be our last episode for a little while. It's going to go on hiatus for October and November. This is the worst. This is the worst. This is the worst. Yeah. It will come back though as a weekly series in December, so get excited. Yeah, I haven't figured out yet how I want it to be. I don't know, we may do 2022 releases again, we may do something different. Every year, I want to revamp it in a way, but I can't figure out how I'm going to revamp it this year. So anyways, these are the books. I unwrap one. If I'm not 100% feeling it, I let myself wrap a second and we choose between them. But sometimes I'm feeling the first one. Right, initially, as soon as I was looking, this is the one that interested me. This is so momentous. This is it. After this, they're all going to get unwrapped. If I don't feel this, we can unwrap another. Otherwise, if I am excited by this, we're reading this. Oh, okay, we're gonna unwrap another one. It is The Neighbour's Secret. This is a Book of the Month one that I got, and I just haven't had a lot of people speak about it. I do have the audiobook for this. I will read this if I have to because it kind of reminds me of Big Little Lies, which I loved. I gave Big Little Lies five stars recently. So I will read it if I have to. I will. Maybe. No, I will. But not feeling it initially. It's hard. This is tricky. I got so lucky last time. That one? No, we're gonna go for that one. We're going for Fairleaf. Do I want that? I don't get nervous, but I'm starting to get a bit shaky, you know what I mean? I'm a little bit worried. No, that, um, no. That one. That one, that one. What is this last one? It's another Book of the Month one, I can already tell. Oh! Okay, this is Keeper of the Night by Kylie Lee Baker. I'm excited to read this as well, but I'm reading some other big fantasies this month. I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but they're such big fantasies that I'm not sure whether... I mean, you already have seen that, actually. My reading vlog doing the Dragon Republic and the Burning God, actually. I just realized you've seen it. They're so daunting to me. And like, I feel like they're just gonna take all of my fantasy brain to read them. So I think I'm gonna go with The Neighbour's Secret. I think we're gonna read this. I have the audiobook. I don't know much about it, so I'm intrigued to see what I think. It'll be a fairly quick read. So yeah, I'm excited. If it gives me Big Little Lies vibes, I will be so happy. I will literally be on cloud nine because I've been wanting more of that kind of vibe. Okay, hi. So I am 100 pages in to The Neighbour's Secret. Firstly, can I just say, I just finished... I don't know, you're a bit crooked, actually. Hang on. I just finished the Dragon Republic and the Burning God for my most recent vlog. And let me tell you, that took it out of me. This is exactly what I need. Mum drama. I love it. I actually, I love it. I love that. I don't really like domestic thrillers in the sense that I'm not a big fan of, like, husband and wife thrillers. I find them a bit, like, I don't know, boring. But I discovered when I read Big Little Lies, I have a thing for, like, suburbia mum drama. That is interesting to me. They never fail to bring just the campiest spice you've ever had. So yeah, I'm really enjoying this. We're following three perspectives. Again, very similar to Big Little Lies. We're following Lena, who is now kind of a recluse. Something tragic happened to her family 15 years ago. And then we're following two women who are in this book club. Annie, who supposedly has, like, a dark past. And Jen, whose son is troubled. And they're trying to, you know, figure it out and help him, her and her husband. It seems like he may be a sociopath. It's kind of the synopsis. I just love the drama. Like, just, I don't, I just love it. All of the individual mysteries that these women have going on are really, really interesting to me. What happened in Lena's past with her husband, it seems. And it drove her daughter away. What happened in Annie's past. And she's now befriended Lena and is trying to get her to come to this book club. And there's stuff going on with her daughter. And then Jen, like, what's happening with her son? What's he gonna do within the book? Because that's not gonna be, like, be in the book if he's not gonna end up doing something. He just, like, stabbed at the start of the book. He stabs one of his classmates in the hand. I'm really, really enjoying it. It's exactly what I need right now. Like, I needed something that could just let my brain relax. There's emails in this, which are, the emails are really fun. Like, they're just that, they're just that little bit of mixed media that I need. It always tends to be from the head of the book club. And it's kind of, like, talking about what book they're reading. And it's just, like, it's just painting a picture of suburbia. The audiobook narrator is really good. She's really putting her whole into this. Like, she's like, let me just, like, put every acting fiber into narrating this audiobook. I'm acting. Because the way that she narrates all the different characters, you know, puts on these, like, whoa, oh my god, no, no, no. Like, these voices, it's just making it such a fun reading experience. And like I said, it's what I need right now. So, I'm really enjoying the audiobook. Listen, it's not gonna be a five star. I don't think it's gonna be a five star. It's not, like, the most, like, expertly written thing in the world. But I am enjoying it. I needed a quick, fun read. So, yeah, I'm gonna head off and read some more. And I'll check in with you when I have some more thoughts. About 200 pages into The Neighbour's Secret. Listen, I'm flying through her. I'm still really enjoying it. It is just trying to be Big Little Lies. It is, it literally is trying to be it. Because at the start of this, we've got an anonymous perspective talking about how at the end of this book, there's a party and someone dies. Okay, I'm gonna read you out the opening, the first page. I saw the two of them leave the party. They were five minutes apart, but they each slipped through the back gate and into the woods the same way. Quick as foxes, like they didn't want to be seen. I could think of no appropriate reason for them to sneak off together, but I told myself it was none of my business. Since they found the body, I've been replaying what I saw. What happened between them, out where no one could hear, I think it was murder. It's all the drama, Mick, I just love it. So, we've got that, you know, going on throughout the book, this anonymous perspective. That literally is Big Little Lies. And the emails, the book of emails, is just a way of having the, like, alternate perspective, the kind of Greek chorus that Big Little Lies has. Excuse me. I get too hot at the moment. It's still pretty hot in the UK to shut my windows when I'm filming because the ring light makes me so hot. So, apologies for any noises you hear. It will be autumn soon. Like, it is autumn, kind of. Not technically, but we're all in autumn vibes on Booktube. Anyway, so, I mean, it is just Big Little Lies 2.0. And it's not as good. Like, the writing isn't as good. The characters aren't as compelling. The mysteries aren't as compelling. But I'm still having a good time. You know what I mean? I've been looking for stuff. Like this. So, I'm not complaining. We've had a lot of reveals. We've had a lot of secrets revealed. And let me tell you, they're a little bit juicy. They're a little bit juicy. I wasn't expecting these secrets. One of the characters in particular, she's been up to stuff. She's been up to stuff that I really was not expecting. And it's a really interesting perspective to read in amongst all the suburbia. So, I still think this is good. It is just a Big Little Lies ripoff. But, like, you know, respect the hustle. I think the book club at the centre of this is also a fun addition. Because, like, I've been to suburbia mum's book clubs before when I was very young. Actually, we're not really suburbia. But I did tell a bit of a lie there. But anyway, my mum had a book club with some of her mum friends. So, I totally know the vibe. I know. Everyone bringing snacks. Like, I know the vibe. So, I just think it's a fun setting to put in the middle of all of this. And I do think the mysteries that each of these three women have got, they're kind of converging and connecting. And I think they're all really interesting. I hadn't predicted any of the reveals. And that's not that I'm really trying to. I'm kind of just letting myself be taken along for the ride. But I hadn't predicted any of them. I'm still having a really good time. So, yeah. It's, like, fine. It's not, you know, the best thing I've ever read. But I'm having a good time. Now, I think I'm gonna try and start packing for holiday. As much as I really don't want to. And I kind of want to leave it to tomorrow. I don't know. I'm gonna edit this vlog so far. And then I'm gonna start packing for my holiday. It's currently Sunday. I'm going on holiday Tuesday morning. But it's a really early flight. So, we're going tomorrow afternoon to stay at a hotel near the airport. So, I've got to pack by tomorrow afternoon. And we still have to run some errands tomorrow. Like, I'm getting some euros out. So, I might as well make a start tonight. If I can have the energy later, once I've edited the vlog so far. Whilst I have the audiobook. Because it's kind of the perfect thing to listen to whilst you pack. So, the thing that's holding me off is I need to put my shoes at the bottom of the case. And I haven't decided what shoes I'm taking yet. Oh, get over yourself, love. Silly car. That's the only reason. Because clothes is easy. Just folding clothes mindlessly. But I don't- I haven't decided what shoes to take. Okay, morning. I have not started packing yet. I'm going to start. I'm gonna pack once. I mean, it won't take me that long. It's fine. But anyway, I finished The Secret last night and this morning. And I really enjoyed it. I'm gonna give it a four star. This was, like, again- I feel like I got lucky with this a couple of wrapped ups ago. When I read Love and Other Natural Disasters. Where, like, the book I'm reading is not the best book in the world, right? They were both four stars. But I had a great time reading them. And they were exactly what I needed in the moment. Like, this was exactly what I needed to read. And I don't think I would have read this anytime soon if not for Wrapped Up. So, that's, like, the beauty of Wrapped Up. Is it forces me to read these kind of books. I genuinely think I may have never read this. But it was the perfect thing for me to read right now. It is a Big Little Liars ripoff. It is. But I think it knows it is. And that's fine. I've been looking for more books like Big Little Liars. And I'm glad this delivered. It gave me what I wanted. Not as good. Not nearly as good. But still interesting. And a lot of good twists in this. There were so many twists in what we thought was happening. Because you kept getting fed, like, little bits of information. In a really good way. Where it kept making you switch what you think is happening. And I did not see the ending coming. I really didn't see any of these twists coming. So, I think that's a testament to this being, like, it's an okay book. It's a good book. I would recommend the audiobook if you're interested in it. If you're interested in mom suburbia book clubs. Like, that kind of situation. I also forgot to mention there's, like, a vandal going around. And, like, doing vandalism. Like, oh, did I mention that? I can't remember. I don't know. But that's, like, a big part of the plot. Is there's this vandal terrorising, you know, the sweet society in which we live. But it's not a massive part. I'd say the bigger part of the book is these three women. And how their lives intersect. And, yeah, generally everything that I kept thinking. Oh, okay, that's what's happening there. It would present information to you that you thought was, like, 100% reliable. It wasn't something that was a mystery. Like, they'd present information to you. Maybe about the past, whatever. That would make you think, okay, that's what's happened. But we need to find out more information. And then later you find out, actually, no, you got it wrong. It tricked you. You naughty, naughty. You teasing me. You naughty, naughty. It tricked your gullible ass into thinking something else, basically. So, yeah, I really enjoyed it. I'll be open to reading more thrillers by this author. And it was exactly what I needed right now. The audiobook's great. It was really interesting. Towards the end, also, the chapters started getting shorter and shorter. Like, only, like, a page long. And I just thought the pacing was really good. So I had a great time reading this. This is a pretty short vlog, I think. Because this isn't, like, you know, a particularly complex book to hold up a whole vlog on its own. But that's what you signed up for with Wrapped Up. So I hope you enjoyed this last episode of Wrapped Up ever. No, it'll be back in December in some kind of new iteration, which I haven't figured out yet. I think it deserves a two-month break. But listen, I got lucky with this. I genuinely feel like the universe looked down on me and said, this is what you're gonna need to read after going through the trauma that is The Dragon Republic and The Man in God. So I'm gonna go ahead and edit this video and then finally go back. But thank you guys so much for watching this video. If you got to the end, what should we comment? Comment just the book stack emoji for the book club. The book club's one of my favourite aspects of this book and how everything kind of comes back to it. So yeah, comment, like, the book stack emoji if you got to the end. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!